Key People

Thomas Hutchinson -
Governor of Massachusetts during early 1770s;
instituted policies that prompted the Boston Tea Party

Charles Townshend -
British member of Parliament who crafted the 1767 Townshend Acts

The Townshend Acts

Parliament wasted little time invoking its right
to “bind” the colonies under the Declaratory Act. The
very next year, in 1767, it passed the Townshend
Acts. Named after Parliamentarian Charles Townshend, these
acts included small duties on all imported glass, paper, lead, paint,
and, most significant, tea. Hundreds of thousands of colonists drank
tea daily and were therefore outraged at Parliament’s new tax.

Impact of the Townshend Acts

Fueled by their success in protesting the Stamp
Act, colonists took to the streets again. Nonimportation
agreements were strengthened, and many shippers, particularly
in Boston, began to import smuggled tea. Although initial opposition
to the Townshend Acts was less extreme than the initial reaction
to the Stamp Act, it eventually became far greater. The nonimportation
agreements, for example, proved to be far more effective this time
at hurting British merchants. Within a few years’ time, colonial
resistance became more violent and destructive.

The Boston Massacre

To prevent serious disorder, Britain dispatched 4,000 troops
to Boston in 1768—a rather extreme move,
considering that Boston had only about 20,000 residents
at the time. Indeed, the troop deployment quickly proved a mistake,
as the soldiers’ presence in the city only made the situation worse.
Bostonians, required to house the soldiers in their own homes, resented
their presence greatly.

Tensions mounted until March 5, 1770,
when a protesting mob clashed violently with British regulars, resulting
in the death of five Bostonians. Although most historians
actually blame the rock-throwing mob for picking the fight, Americans
throughout the colonies quickly dubbed the event the Boston
Massacre. This incident, along with domestic pressures
from British merchants suffering from colonial nonimportation agreements,
convinced Parliament to repeal the Townshend Acts. The tax on tea,
however, remained in place as a matter of principle. This decision
led to more violent incidents.

The Tea Act

In 1773, Parliament passed the Tea
Act, granting the financially troubled British East
India Company an exclusive monopoly on tea exported to the
American colonies. This act agitated colonists even further: although
the new monopoly meant cheaper tea, many Americans believed that
Britain was trying to dupe them into accepting the hated tax.

The Boston Tea Party

In response to the unpopular act, tea agents in many American
cities resigned or canceled orders, and merchants refused consignments. In Boston,
however, Governor Thomas Hutchinson resolved to uphold
the law and ordered that three ships arriving in Boston Harbor be
allowed to despoit their cargoes and that appropriate payment be
made for the goods. This policy prompted about sixty men, including
some members of the Sons of Liberty, to board the ships
on the night of December 16, 1773 (disguised
as Native Americans) and dump the tea chests into the water. The
event became known as the Boston Tea Party.

The dumping of the tea in the harbor was the most destructive
act that the colonists had taken against Britain thus far. The previous rioting
and looting of British officials’ houses over the Stamp Act had
been minor compared to the thousands of pounds in damages to the
ships and tea. Governor Hutchinson, angered by the colonists’ disregard
for authority and disrespect for property, left for England. The
“tea party” was a bold and daring step forward on the road to outright
revolution.

The Intolerable Acts

The Tea Party had mixed results: some Americans
hailed the Bostonians as heroes, while others condemned them as
radicals. Parliament, very displeased, passed the Coercive
Acts in 1774 in
a punitive effort to restore order. Colonists quickly renamed these
acts the Intolerable Acts.

Numbered among these Intolerable Acts was the Boston
Port Bill, which closed Boston Harbor to all ships until
Bostonians had repaid the British East India Company for damages.
The acts also restricted public assemblies and suspended many civil
liberties. Strict new provisions were also made for housing British
troops in American homes, reviving the indignation created by the
earlier Quartering Act, which had been allowed to expire
in 1770. Public sympathy for Boston erupted
throughout the colonies, and many neighboring towns sent food and
supplies to the blockaded city.

The Quebec Act

At the same time the Coercive Acts were put into effect,
Parliament also passed the Quebec Act. This act granted
more freedoms to Canadian Catholics and extended Quebec’s territorial
claims to meet the western frontier of the American colonies.